Tuesday, December 08, 2009

The Hour of Not Quite Rain

Here's another excerpt from my book about growing up in the 60s. It's 1967, the summer of love in Los Angeles.

In the spirit of freedom and “do your own thing” KHJ radio devised an ingenious contest. Listeners were invited to send in original song lyrics and the winning entry would be put to music and appear on the next Buffalo Springfield album. Every hour the Bossjocks read another finalist. Ohmygod, they were terrible! Sophomoric, overwrought, just loaded with pungent imagery that made zero sense. The jocks would read them very straight over sappy music. I would roar with laughter every hour. But what do you expect? These were 13-year-olds composing this stuff. And many followed the current trend of trying to simulate the free association of a drug trip, which I suppose gave them license to abandon coherent thoughts and poetry in favor of Mad Libs.

Micki Callen was the winner with her haunting if not mystifying ballad, “The Hour of Not Quite Rain”.

In the hour of not quite rainWhen the fog was fingertip highThe moon hung suspendedIn a singular sky

Deeply and beyond seeingNot wishing to intrudeBathed in its own reflectionThe water mirrored the moon

The tumbling birds have now soberedFrom the leaves of their nurseryLike shadowy, quiet childrenWatching sleepily

What???

She beat out 15,000 entries. Micki, if you're out there, I'd love to hear your story on this.

Ken...Micki Callen lived in Reseda, not far from me. It was her 15 minutes. Knowing the way things were in those days, I'm sure she became a groupy and lived with Neil Young for a couple of years. Boy, do I miss the 60s!

i took your advice manand listed to it on acidstilted nostalgiawafts back topatchouli-drencheddrags along sunsetwith the real fuckin' don steelecuttin' up jackpotstoo hip for the kidsspooning the top 40

I've never tried acid. Is it too late? I did try pot once in high school back in Michigan. Second time was early 90's on a Saturday night-some dive apartment in Brentwood, CA. Long story short; couple of bong hits sent me alice-in-wonderland-style to St. John's emergency room. It was a loooooong night. But I digress. "The Hour Of Not Quite Rain" basically sounds the way I felt that night. Out of my fuckin' mind. It gave me a newfound understanding of my fellow actor from a tv series on which we played one another's love interest over a four year span.If coke is the devil's dandruff, then pot must be his five o'clock shadow. Where does that leave acid?

Wow. I still listen to this album, having bought it when it was new. Like others, I never paid attention to any throughline in the lyrics. I never got past the "In the hour of not-quite rain, when the fog was fingertip high." Love that. Had no idea it was a KHJ contest! Crazy. Thanks for this. Since it's been six years . . . I'll look for your book.

About KEN LEVINE

Named one of the BEST 25 BLOGS by TIME Magazine. Ken Levine is an Emmy winning writer/director/producer/major league baseball announcer. In a career that has spanned over 30 years Ken has worked on MASH, CHEERS, FRASIER, THE SIMPSONS, WINGS, EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, BECKER, DHARMA & GREG, and has co-created three series. He and his partner wrote the feature VOLUNTEERS. Ken has also been the radio/TV play-by-play voice of the Baltimore Orioles, Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres. and Dodger Talk. He hosts the podcast HOLLYWOOD & LEVINE

Ken Being Social

Ken's Book Club

A collection of long-form Levine

MUST KILL TV: Ken's explosive and hilarious satire of the TV industry - now in paperback and Kindle